Divorce and Its Effects on Children

“Just as marriage creates a family relationship, divorce ends that marriage.” (Kalafut) When marriages come to an end families are faced with various situations. These range from legal issues of money, custody battle, even, the question of should the wife keep the last name, and etc. Divorce is not only hard on the adults that are going through the issues but on the core family as well especially the children if they were in the family relationship. We as a society must focus on divorce families with the mind frame of how it will affect the children involved. It is a very difficult transition for a child to be involved in his or her parent’s divorce. In today’s society the divorce rate is very high and consideration should be given with the effects that can be harmful or stressful for children such as: 1. Academics Problems, 2. Emotional Stress, and 3. Social Behaviors. As we continue to process the situation of divorce families, we have to ask ourselves, what are the upheavals and outcomes with helping our young cope with divorce? So how do you feel about DIVORCE?

Divorce was first introduced by a Hammurabi Code in ancient Babylonia. Divorce was not seen as acceptable behavior until recently with the acceptance of divorce by many nations and the new laws implemented to accommodate those wishing to end the legacy of family. Divorce today was not accepted by many nations until recent times, take for instant Ireland, “on February 27, 1997 the country joined with the rest of Europe in making divorce legal” (Kalafut) This was done to replace the ban on divorce and keep the Irish people from becoming stressed while remaining in bad situations. Many countries only allowed divorce for certain reasons, such as adultery, crime, bad conduct, desertion and a broad range of other items with the conditions that counseling from the church or separation for at least two years were found not to work. In today Malta and the Philippines, several measures were passed to try and legalized divorce, however, the amendments never passed thereby making it illegal to divorce in those countries. It is with satisfaction that children of Malta and the Philippines are not suffering the consequences of divorce as does the children in the world surrounding them. That is not to say that the children of these countries are not suffering with behavioral issues, it is saying that there issues stems from other problems without the impact of divorce being laid in their laps. All in all, divorce has been around since ancient Babylonia and has gained and loss credentials with certain nations over the past decades, but has created a negative impact on children who are internally involved in the divorce process. There are millions of children who see parents’ divorce each year and the affects of divorce have been studied on numerous occasions. One such study was done in 1989 by Judith Wallerstein. She found that...

Cited: Black, Kemp, Smith, Segal. "helpguide." 9 March 2011. 9 May 2011 .
Eleoff, Sara. "The Child Advocate." Divorce Effects on Children (2003): 1-3.
Ham, Barry D. "The Effects of Divorce on the Academic Achievement of High School Seniors." Divorce & Remarriage (2003): 167-185.
Kalafut, Molly. "History of Divorce: Around The World." (2005): 1-6.
MacKenzie, Caroline. "Effects of Divorce on Children." The Effects of Divorce on Children (2011): 1-6.
Patten, Peggy. "Divorce and Children Part I: An Interview with Robert Hughes Jr. PhD." ParentNews (Online) (1999): 1-4.

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are involved. Depending on the childs age when the divorce takes place, depends on how much trauma
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